Well, once we had been a few times around the giant store and filled up a cart with huge amounts of fruits, veggies, cans of beens and veggies, dairy, olive oil, frozen goods, beer, shower gel and god knows what else, we were finally ready to pay.
Thorsten was asked to show his ID once the cashier spotted the beer, something that we've come to expect despite his very advanced age. T pulled out his driver's licence, his VISA card and even his student card for good measure. All three featured his jolly face and birth date.
Well, that wasn't good enough. After consulting an equally stern co-worker, the unsmiling lady proclaimed that none of these cards counted as valid ID. Our best bet, the driver's license, wasn't good enough as it wasn't a WA driver's license. Realizing that he wasn't going to get anywhere with the cashier, T ran off to find Peter (who was waiting in the car) while I continued loading up food on the conveyor's belt.
The two of them soon showed up, and after exchanging a few words with the Keeper of the Beer, he too came to the conclusion that there was no point in trying to convince the lady. So Thorsten asked him to just buy the beer and wine for us. The cashier didn't like the sound of that and immediately let us know that would not be possible, as he was obviously buying it for Thorsten and me, who could very well be minors.
Resigned, Peter then simply went into the store and bought us the beer and wine, paying somewhere else. All the while, a concerned lady followed him around in the store -- but luckily didn't try to pry the immoral intoxicants (intended for minors!) away from him.
If there's one thing we've learned, it's that ID is serious business either in the US -- or possibly specifically the state of Washington. Thorsten once asked a waiter in the local restaurant why cashiers and waitstaff were so careful to always check for ID if you try to buy alcohol. The young man explained to us that there awaits a hefty penalty for any store or restaurant that is proved to sell alcohol not to minors, necessarily, but anybody looking remotely youthful who cannot prove they are above the age of 21.
Fascinatingly, then, what is being checked is not how old you are, but whether or not you are carrying ID (showing, of course, your age). Thus, a reasonably young-looking 35-year old who has no evidence of her age is a minor until proven otherwise!
Finally, I discovered a few weeks ago that one cannot even buy non-alcoholic beer (not light-beer mind, but a truly alcohol-free beverage) without showing ID. Stringent alcohol laws apart, that one's a bit absurd. I guess they consider it a gateway drug...
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